DOG FOOD And NUTRITION

If you looked at a bag or can of dog food even just a couple of years ago, chances were reasonably high that you would not see how many calories it contained. There was only something called the Guaranteed Analysis, which is hard to interpret. But at least 40 percent of pet dogs are believed to be overweight in the United States, making excess weight one of the biggest health problems faced by dogs and their owners; thus, many found the missing.

There are a number of good reasons not to feed your dog home-cooked meals. One is a preponderance of evidence in published research studies that fully 95 percent of the popular recipes for dog foods offered in books, on the Internet, by breeders, and by other popular sources are nutritionally inadequate and...

Human-grade, Premium, Organic, Holistic, Gourmet, Senior, Natural, Supports Brain Development, Helps Muscles Function.

Pet food is a multi-billion-dollar industry in the United States, and companies spend no small amount of money deciding what words to put in large, bold letters on the front of their packages to get you to buy their brands. But many of the come-hither terms have no legal definitions. They mean whatever the manufacturer wants them to mean. Others do have …

Only a couple of health claims are allowed on dog food. One of them has to do with improved dental health; some foods have a scrubbing action on the teeth as the dog chews them. The other is about urinary health. All other health claims are illegal. So why is it that so many dog foods have claims like supports brain development or helps muscle function? …

[From Tufts October 2012]

We did a study on two kinds of supplements people frequently decide to give to their dogs with heart disease, says Tufts veterinary nutritionist Lisa Freeman, DVM, PhD, DACVN, and found that six of 13 products did not disintegrate effectively, which suggested that they may not be be absorbed effectively in the gastrointestinal tract.

Another study, conducted by researchers at the University of Guelph in Ontario, looked at probiotics - both veterinary and human products. In 17 out of 44 supplements - more than one in three - the probiotic organism was either improperly identified or did not even exist.

People think supplements are regulated as if they were drugs, Dr. Freeman says. But theyre not. Drugs must be proven to be safe and effective and made with good quality control before theyre put on the market. Supplement manufacturers dont have to prove anything. The onus is on the Food and Drug Administration to prove. …

Because puppies go through a remarkable growth spurt that can last as long as two years, their nutrition can make a life-long difference in their health. Consider this: A growing pup needs about twice as many calories per pound of body weight as an adult dog, according to the National Research Council of the National Academies. During this time, theyre building strong bones and muscles, and need extra energy and nutrients.

In its latest Weight Management Guidelines for Dogs (and Cats), the American Animal Hospital Association has a chart entitled Issues Impeding/Preventing Weight Loss. Topping the list in that chart is that the pet looks hungry or is begging. The same table lists pet owner guilt as an impediment to weight loss. Since up to 59 percent of dogs are overweight (making excess weight the most common nutritional disorder in veterinary practices), theres a good chance…

Digestive disorders, immune system breakdowns, thyroid dysfunction, cognitive decline, reproductive problems, cancer, heart disease. These are just some of the problems soy is said to cause for dogs. Internet message boards are rife with discussion about the downsides of soy as an ingredient in dog food, and even some veterinarians have said that soy causes serious allergic reactions, reduces the digestibility of protein, results in gassiness and diarrhea, interferes with the absorption of minerals like…

As the nations people go, so go our dogs. By some estimates, at least 40 percent of the pet dogs in the U.S. are overweight, which puts an extra burden on their joints and backs and predisposes them to hormone-related diseases like diabetes. Its not all about transferring our own sedentary, non calorie-burning lifestyles to our dogs. Some of it is that dog food simply tastes much better than it used to.

As long as your dog does not have kidney disease or some other illness that necessitates strict control on nutrients such as sodium or protein, his nutritional world wont come to an end if you occasionally let him have table scraps as treats. But dinner as you have come to enjoy it might. It takes no time at all to inadvertently train a dog to come to the table and drool while he looks beseechingly…

Medical problems that can cause a dog to eat too little include everything from tooth or gum pain to kidney disease, heart disease, intestinal disease, certain cancers, and parasites. The nutrition treatment depends on the diagnosis. Tooth pain, for instance, might be solved with a root canal or a tooth extraction, and the dog can go back to her usual diet. Something progressive like kidney disease, on the other hand, is going to necessitate a more involved approach.

So much of what heart disease is about for people concerns the arteries becoming clogged with gunk because of a diet thats high in saturated fat and cholesterol. The unhealthful diet translates to high amounts of cholesterol in the blood (and sometimes triglycerides), and this means arteries filling with plaques and narrowing over time until one of them becomes too narrow to allow blood to flow, resulting in a heart attack. The process leading up to the heart attack is called atherosclerosis.